Need to refresh your open water swimming skills ahead of a race?

You may be a great pool swimmer, but swimming in open water with a wetsuit in a lake or even the sea is quite a different story. Now is the time to jump in and find your mojo!

Aloha Tri’s 1-to-1 and group skills sessions are fully coached, aimed at open water beginners and intermediate swimmers looking to improve their skills in the open water for triathlon, aquathlon and distance swimming. Here you will learn the skills required to make you more effective and improve your race times.

DATES:

Wednesday evenings from May 9 onwards, so get booking fast before your next race.

Are your kids inspired by the Brownlee brothers? Do you want them to burn off some energy doing the sports they love best? Want to build their confidence and stamina?

If you have been following us last year, you will remember the very popular kids triathlon camps in St Albans, which we ran under a different brand name. Due to demand from parents and kids we have worked with, we’re bringing them back for 2 exclusive days this summer.

Aloha Tri Kids Triathlon Camps are a great way to learn all about the sport of triathlon. We encourage the kids to enjoy and excel at all 3 sports in a safe and friendly environment. Each day includes swim, cycle and run sessions, together with fun exercises and games to prepare for races.

Kids will familiarise themselves with the race rules, how to set up transition and tips on kit, equipment, what to eat and drink, how to keep a positive attitude and enjoy their sport. We provide age appropriate coaching and are British Triathlon, Ironman Triathlon and TrainingPeaks certified coaches.

I wrote this piece a little over a year ago to place into the mind of an athlete an order of things to do the morning of an event. It’s as relevant today as it was then. Let us know if it helps:

Make sure that you have given yourself enough time to get to registration when arriving at the event location. There is no need to add that extra stress and burn calories frantically looking for the registration tent 30 minutes before the swim start. Taking a step back further, during the night before, have a read through your athlete’s guide so that you know where everything is situated so that you can comfortably arrive the following morning armed with all you need to know about your event.

Plan to arrive early at Transition to have enough time to set up your area and to make any finally checks on your gear, nutrition and tyres.

Rack your bike and make certain that your equipment is properly stowed in your transition bags or laid out in your designated transition spot.

Make sure that you have properly sited where your bike is in respect of the rest of the Transition area, the swim entry point, bike exit and entry as well as the run exit all mapped out in your head.

Following the body marking and street clothes drop off, do one last visual check of the swim course as you are waiting for your wave start time.

If it’s possible, do a dry land warm up by jogging and loosening up your shoulders and if it’s allowed to do a short high intensity water warm up by swimming a few 100m efforts.

Position yourself according to ability at the swim start.

Start your swim and get some clear water by taking the first 300m at Zone 3 and settle in behind an equivalent athlete’s toes or shoulder and draft at an even Zone 2.

Prior to exiting the swim, start kicking more than your standard two beat kick to get some blood flowing in your legs and swim to shore to avoid the heart rate spike and consequent shock to your system.

When you exit the swim, do not first remove your swim hat and goggles from your head, but first unzip your wetsuit with both of your free hands and head to Transition.

Mount the bike at the appropriate point at the bike mount line and start out on the bike at a steady pace at Z2-3 for the first few kilometres and do not go beyond Zone 4 threshold. You have successfully left T1! Enjoy the rest of your event!

Ironman Blogging

I’ve decided to blog about my Ironman Hamburg race this year. I know, another blog by another triathlete about another Ironman! Groan! Stay with me, it should be an insightful look into preparing for a big event. Since this is my 19th Ironman event, I hope it will be of use to you. I’ll also be dropping some knowledge about the general how’s and why’s of the sport, as well as tips on what to do prior, during and after such events.

The first 2 weeks..

I’m currently two weeks into my 14-Week Ironman Training Plan for my next race. Between running my own business and other commitments, I haven’t really gotten as much base work in as I’d like to have done. However, due to me being in this sport for so 3 decades, I”m usually able to get back to race shape pretty quickly. That’s the benefit of being in this sport for the long-haul. It allows you to train for big challenges without physically falling apart!

What’s Occurring?

In last few weeks, I’ve been doing medium intensity sessions and some distance work across all three sports. I must stress that I won’t be doing massive over-distance runs or cycles prior to this next Ironman. What I mean is, this year I’m avoiding running marathons, long cycle sportifs and other long events. Instead, what I’m looking to do over the next 12 weeks is high quality, big volume sessions that will get me across the line at a pretty good speed.

One would think that since I am a coach that I would do big training events and put some big numbers on Strava over the next few weeks, but that’s not really my plan. I would like to get a couple of 100+ mile training rides in, if that is at all feasible at this point.

So, my aim is to do the quality and stay away from injury. I will be doing ONE build event and that is the Edinburgh Ironman 70.3which is at the beginning of July. After that, a few big volume weeks and then it’s all go from there!

What is important to me for the next few weeks?

This year, I’ve been all over the place in regards to my general training, but fortunately I’m pretty disciplined when it comes to getting the “work” done. I simply know what works for me! Things such as getting accustomed to and dialling in my daily and sports nutrition are high priority items for me.

I’m hoping to get proper open water swims in, which are not during my coaching sessions that I provide to my clients. It is an important tick box item for me, as pool swimming does not set you up very well for Ironman swims. Pool swimming translates poorly to the open water. There are just so many extraneous factors and besides, it’s a completely different environment!

I need to start looking at getting on my TT bike for about half of my cycle sessions and just getting a bit of quality speed sessions in on that bike. I tend to have a love/hate relationship with my BMC TM01 as it takes me a good while to get used to riding on aerobars (ouch my back!). That said,I believe I’ll start riding my bike up and down my local 10 mile time trial course every week or so and most likely ride that and about 30 miles at a time. The reason I do this is to establish the right power and speed over the next few weeks.

Over the past weekend there have been a great deal of events completed by both Aloha Tri athletes and others. I can imagine that many of you either feel energised or completely wiped out (or both)! This is normal for everyone and the key is being able to take time out to have allow your mind and body to rest.

Post-Event recovery is essential to any quality training programme and should be included in “the plan.” As with tapering for an event, post-event recovery can be a traumatic process for athletes. Questions and negative thoughts arise such as “Am I doing enough?” “Will I lose my fitness if I stop?” “I’m racing next week, so I might as well plow on.” This is something that a lot of us go through and can lead to the eventual detriment of future athletic performance.

Why should you take time to recover?

Triathlon is a very physically demanding sport and requires a great deal of effort when racing. After completing an event, the consequences of returning to your high intensity endurance programme should not be ignored. The fact that your body has suffered through such stresses is sometimes not truly felt until days after completing an event. This is the well known delayed onset muscle soreness otherwise known as DOMS. The experience of DOMS can occur simply when getting up in the morning or when returning to your normally planned workouts swimming, cycling or running. This pain that you’re feeling is your body healing and it’s something that it’s trying to tell you. Starting back too early can exacerbate any damage that has occurred and can lead to injury.

The process of post-event recovery has a psychological aspect as well. Competing in an event takes a lot of physical effort, but it also takes mental strength to see yourself across the finish line. Further, with the build-up prior to your race, the planning, tactics, and even simple things such as what you’re going to eat the night before, can weigh you down heavily. Frankly, it can be exhausting to consider all the things that one has to do even to start an event. Then when you’ve finally finished that race, you might go through a whole spectrum of emotions such as loss of motivation, self doubt, or even kicking yourself for not going under a certain time. These feelings are perfectly normal following an event, especially after exerting yourself for a period of time.

How long should you recover for?

That depends on a number of factors. Some professional athletes seem to bounce back and are able to race week after week without seeming to take a day off. This could lead to overuse injuries and eventual bench time, so emulating your favourite pro triathlete is probably not such a good idea to begin with. A good rule of thumb for recovery is based upon the duration of an event as well as the intensity of such activities. A sprint distance triathlon may only require a few days recovery, while recovery after a full Ironman distance triathlon would require at least 2 weeks or more before returning to a structured programme. If you’re a well-trained athlete with years of experience, you may not require as much recovery time as someone who is new to the sport. However, if you raced the event and put an all out effort, you may need more recovery time than you think. So even you life-long athletes need to listen to your bodies.

What should you do during recovery?

Once you’ve had a day or more off from training, athletes should continue their process of physical recovery. When we talk about recovery, we do not really mean that you lay around all day on “the couch of doom” doing nothing. Active Recovery is something that is encouraged to help the post-event healing process and to prepare you for your return to your training regimen. By doing some light exercise, going for a leisurely walk, bike or swim with friends or family can aid in doing this. You can even try that class at the gym that you’ve always want to do, but never had the time.

Recovery is an important aspect of your training cycle and one that should not be ignored. If your coach has included regular rest and recovery days, do them as you would with any of your workouts. If you do so, it will make you a happy and healthy athlete!

Get in touch with aloha@alohatri.com or check out our website http://alohatri.com for a free consultation with our head coach.

When competing in triathlon, there are so many factors to consider as part of your training just to get to the start line. You can diligently put in that hard training year-round, only to be tripped up by one “minor” detail on race day—heat.

Have you ever been on holiday somewhere very hot and humid, so hot that when you come off the plane it feels like you’ve walked into a sauna? Imagine having to race in that very same sauna a few days after your arrival. Many of us from Northern climates are unprepared for the heat at popular IRONMAN events in either subtropical or even Central European regions.

Heat is one race factor that is often underestimated, but it’s also one you can plan and train for.

HEAT, HUMIDITY AND HOW IT AFFECTS YOUR BODY
Not everyone needs heat acclimation—like those pro triathletes who seem to be continually globetrotting—but most of us do. Heat not only impairs performance, but it could lead to heat stroke or worse. In an IRONMAN you will start your swim in the cooler hours of the morning, but you will be running in the afternoon and there is no escaping the temperatures and humidity levels at that time of day.

So, what does heat do to the human body? Have you ever wondered why you turn red in the heat? That’s your blood being drawn away from your muscles in order to cool off your skin. It takes a lot of energy to cool your body down, so more glycogen as an energy source will need to be consumed. The larger the athlete, the more glycogen is required.

In warm weather you will get a higher increase in lactate concentration because you will likely reach higher heart rate zones at much lower speeds. So those heart rate zones that you stuck to all season simply become invalidated, due to an increase in heart rate caused by decreased blood flow.

THREE STRATEGIES FOR YOUR HEAT ACCLIMATION TRAINING
Heat acclimation training improves the body’s ability to exercise in higher temperatures. For most triathletes, training for an IRONMAN starts early in the year and never in subtropical temperatures. This does not simulate anything close to race day conditions. Here are some training strategies to consider:

The DIY approach: Simulate heat by training for at least an hour in the afternoons with a few extra layers of clothing on, aiming for about five to 10 sessions over a period of two weeks preceding a race. This is a very basic approach that may work for you if outdoor temperatures are high enough. In winter, you could also set up your turbo trainer in your laundry room with the dryer running for heat AND humidity. When starting out, you should reduce your intensity slightly for the first few sessions to avoid any negative heat-related effects.

Hyperthermic Conditioning: This is heat acclimation using an artificial source such as a sauna. The protocol is simple in that you train for up to an hour prior to using the sauna. The reason is that your core body temperature is already increased, which will allow for greater heat adaptation. You should start this approach three weeks out from your event for 15 minutes a session, three times a week. Closer to the event, you can increase the duration to 30 minutes, four times a week.

Heat Chambers: If you’re lucky enough to live close to a university with a well-equipped sports physiology department, you could potentially use one of their heat chambers. This is the gold standard for heat training, as you can control all variables for specific environmental conditions and it is completely customizable. General recommendations for a full acclimation program would consist of seven to 14 sessions, two weeks out from your event. You would be in a monitored environment, have use of a treadmill or exercise bike in the chamber and would have feedback from seasoned professionals.
In addition to all of these above heat adaptation strategies, you should also plan a hydration/electrolyte supplementation strategy that’s specific to your needs. This should be based on your sweat rate and is best done with the help of a coach.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF HEAT ACCLIMATION TRAINING?
Many studies have been done on this topic, but in a nutshell you will see:

Increased blood flow to muscles, heart and skin

Improvements in fluid balance and cardiovascular stability

Enhanced sweat capacity and vasomotor responses

Less glycogen use

Lower rate of lactate buildup

WHEN SHOULD YOU START TRAINING FOR THE HEAT?
Your heat acclimation protocol should generally start two to three weeks out from your race. You will want to stop your heat acclimation seven days before your race to mitigate any negative impact of the heat on site. The effects of heat acclimation training can last for upward of 10 days.

WHAT ELSE SHOULD YOU PLAN FOR?
Once you arrive at your race destination, you will want to make the most of the pre-event activities and the weather, but keep a few things in mind:

Avoid high use of air conditioning, as this can negate the effects of heat acclimation

Increase your fluid, salt and magnesium uptake

Drive the race course to check the conditions for wind, shade or heat reflection on asphalted roads.

On race day:

Use plenty of sunblock and wear appropriate clothing before, during and after your event

Wear a run cap to protect your dome. Sun visors are fine, but a full cap can offer further sun protection.

Make use of the event’s drink stations as often as possible

HAVE A SAFE AND SUCCESSFUL EVENT
The performance impact of heat on an athlete cannot be fully removed, but can be mitigated to a point. Heat acclimation training in your final weeks before your big event is scientifically proven to help your body respond better to the stresses of heat on race day. Combine your training with a hydration plan, check the race course and most importantly, be sensible on the day. Enjoy your race!

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Aloha from Oahu! What’s a 2.4 mile swim? It’s hard to put into perspective. Here’s a rough shot of the swim from the original IM course in Waikiki. Imagine swimming from the hotel on the left (San Souci Beach) to the cluster of hotels (in center frame on the right). And that’s just the beginning!